Nicolas II (1868-1917(, the
last of Russian Emperors of the family of Romanovs.

Nicholas succeeded his father Alexander III to the throne in November 1894. He was an
autocrat, although there were some reforms going on in Russia in a more democratic
direction after her defeat in the Russo-Japanese War.

Nicholas and his spouse Alexandra
were crowned in Moscow on 25 May, 1896, and Mannerheim participated in the celebration in
the ranks of the Body Guard. In the procession he rode right in front of the imperial
couple.

Mannerheim regarded Nicholas II as a weak and irresolute ruler.

In the February (March) Revolution Nicholas was forced to abdicate. He and his family
were kept confined to their premises in Tsarskoje Selo, later in the Ural district. Lenin
and Sverdlov, the leaders of the Soviet government, decreed the ex-emperor and his family
to be executed. The execution took place in Jekaterinburg on 17 July, 1918.